Preliminary research on InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) has indicated that InAlN/GaN HEMTs could be an excellent candidate to replace conventional AlGaN/GaN heterostructures in certain electronics applications. InAlN/GaN HEMTs exhibit higher current densities and higher powers compared to typical AlGaN-based HEMTs because of the large spontaneous polarization between InAlN and GaN that enables a high density two dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) above 2.5×1013 cm−2 to be achieved.
Promising DC, RF and output power performances of InAlN/GaN HEMTs on Si, sapphire and SiC substrates have been reported, indicating the suitability of InAlN/GaN HEMTs for high power and high frequency applications such as broadband communication and power flow control. As one characteristic that benefits device reliability, InAlN with an In mole fraction of 0.17 can be grown lattice-matched to GaN, which eliminates the strain present in the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure system. However, there continues to be a need for improved reliability in InAlN/GaN HEMTs.